Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 12 · 2026-10-11

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows how frequently people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

 

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar chart compares how frequently the USA residents ate in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

Overall, throughout the decade the percentage of people eating once a week and once or twice a month were always higher, while the percentage of every day fast food cosumers remained almost constant.

From 2003, percentage of people consuming fast food everyday slightly droped in 2006 from 4% to 3% and remained unchanges in 2013. People consuming fast food several times a week gradually rose to 20% from around 17% in 2006 before falling to 16% in 2013. Similar trend can be noticed for once a week fast food consumers. The percentage rose from 31 to 33 and came back down to 27% in 2013. However, in case of people who ate once or twice a month dropped to 25% in 2006 from 30% in 2003 before taking a big jump to 34% in 2013. Few times year consumers gradually rose rto 15% and remained same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You identify the chart’s subject and give a relevant overview: weekly and monthly eating were the most common frequencies, while daily eating changed little. Several key comparisons are also reported, including the rise in monthly eating from 30% to 33% by 2013 and the weekly category’s peak in 2006. However, some figures are inaccurate: once-a-week eating was about 28% in 2013, not 27%, and once-or-twice-monthly eating reached about 33%, not 34%. The final category, “never,” is omitted, and the overview could more clearly state that monthly eating became the most common frequency by 2013. The main features are addressed, but some are less fully or precisely reported than others.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a clear basic structure, moving from an introduction and overview to details, and it groups several frequency categories in a sensible order. Linking expressions such as “Overall,” “However,” and “Similar trend” help show relationships between points. However, progression within the detail paragraph is sometimes difficult to follow: “From 2003” does not clearly introduce the comparison, and “Similar trend” is imprecise because the weekly category rises and then falls. The final sentence adds another category without a clear transition, while the “never” category is not integrated at all. Use separate paragraphs for related groups of trends and make comparisons explicit to improve the flow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing data, including “percentage,” “remained,” “gradually rose,” and “before falling,” so the reader can understand the main trends. There is some repetition of “people consuming fast food” and “percentage,” and several word-choice, spelling, or collocation problems reduce precision. For example, “fast food cosumers” contains a spelling error, “everyday” is used where the frequency phrase should be “every day,” and “Few times year consumers” is not a natural expression. “Big jump” is understandable but informal for an academic report. Aim for concise chart language and check spelling and word forms; this would make the vocabulary more accurate and appropriately formal.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a contrast with “while” in the overview and a sequence of changes linked by “before.” The overall meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors recur. For example, “the percentage of people … were” has subject–verb disagreement, and “percentage … slightly droped” needs an article and a correctly formed past-tense verb. The phrase “in case of people who ate once or twice a month dropped” lacks a grammatical subject for “dropped,” while “remained unchanges” has an incorrect form. Review articles, agreement, verb forms, and sentence completeness, especially when introducing a category as the subject of a trend.

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